India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, virtually inaugurated the seventh edition of the Khelo India Youth Games on Sunday at the Patliputra Sports Complex as Bihar stage its first biggest multi-discipline sporting event in its history where more than 6,000 athletes are competing in 27 medal sports till May 15. (More Sports News)
Known for his penchant for adding the local flavour to his speeches, the PM began his address, about 12 minutes long, by welcoming the participants in Bhojpuri, arguably the most popular dialect of Bihar, and adjoining parts of Uttar Pradesh.
“In the next few days, 6,000 young athletes will seek to realise their dreams on this great land of Bihar where the tournament is being held in the cities of Patna, Rajgir, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Begusarai”.
He also referred to the “young son of Bihar” Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who recently smashed a 35-ball century in an IPL match.
In his concluding remarks, Modi said “I am sure you all will return with fond memories of Bihar. During your stay, make it a point to try the state라이브 바카라 famous delicacy litthi-chokha. You will also relish makhana (foxnuts) which is grown here in abundance”.
Bihar finished 21st in the last KIYG in Tamil Nadu, and will take inspiration from the fact that a state has always done well whenever it hosted the youth Games. Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu finished on the podium the years they hosted KIYG.
Maharashtra will aim for a hattrick of titles. Having won the team championships in Madhya Pradesh (2023) and Tamil Nadu (2024), Maharashtra will be fielding more than 430 athletes in the Bihar edition of the Khelo India Youth Games, an under-18 championships this time.
Bihar and Maharashtra will be fielding the biggest contingents in Khelo India Youth Games. Both states will have more than 400 athletes each. Haryana, a traditional powerhouse in these Games, will have more than 300 athletes. Karnataka (236) and Tamil Nadu (307) will also have big representations.
Thirty-six states and Union Territories will feature in KIYG 2025. The attraction of the Games has touched every corner of the country and this reflects in the fact that Andaman and Nicobar Islands will field a 10-member team including five women, many of them cyclists. Ladakh, known for ice and snow sports, will have 14 while Lakshadweep will have 12 and Sikkim 15 athletes.
In Bihar, 284 gold medals will be at stake. Maximum number (38) of golds will be in swimming. Athletics will have 34 while wrestling, weightlifting and boxing will have more than 20 golds each. Day 1 action starts with archery (in Bhagalpur), kabaddi (in Rajgir) and volleyball (in Patna).
Today, on the kickoff day, Maharashtra's Tejal Rajendra Salve topped the charts in the girls’ compound qualifying round, scoring 697 points in the Archery competition in Bhagalpur.
The archer from Jalna district, who has represented India in the 2024 Asia Cup in Suwon, South Korea, left her competitors well behind with a splendid score of 353 (out of 360) in the second half. Her teammates Vaidehi Hirachandra Jadhav (692) and Prithika (690) claimed the second and third place in the qualifiers.
In the Volleyball event held in Patna, Jammu and Kashmir overturned a 1-2 deficit to beat Uttarakhand 3-2 (18-25, 25-20, 16-25, 27-25, 15-9) in boys Group A and Gujarat beat Kerala 3-0 (25-12, 18-25, 25-18, 25-19) in girls Group B encounter.
In other girls matches, West Bengal beat Bihar 3-0 (25-9, 25-7, 25-9) in Group A and Tamil Nadu defeated Jharkhand 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-7) in Group B.
In Kabaddi, the Haryana boys’ team retained gold with a comfortable 57-30 victory over Karnataka after leading 28-14 at the half-time in the Rajgir Sports Complex.
However, defending champion Haryana girls’ team had to strain every sinew to keep Punjab at bay. It rode on the five-point first-half lead to win 33-32 despite a gallant attempt by Punjab.
(With PTI inputs)
